This invention relates to a container having a reservoir for storing a liquid and an intermediate storage space communicating with said reservoir and adapted to receive liquid therefrom on generation of a vacuum therein.
For packing of fluid products there are already known miniature containers suitable for economical mass-production by injection molding. In the case of liquid products such as liquid pharmaceuticals, cosmetic products, including shaving lotions, detergents, herbicides and insecticides etc. it is generally required or desirable to dispense these products in metered amounts. In the case of conventional containers provided for instance with a screw-cap closure, metering of the liquid may be performed by dropwise dispensing or by using the closure cap itself as a metering cup to be filled with the product from the packing container.
Also known are containers for dispensing sticks, such as deodorant sticks, comprising a screw cap closure, with a seal located between the interior circumferential surface of said screw cap and the adjacent outer circumferential surface of the container, such seal being effective when the screw cap is being screwed off and on. Within the container, the dispensing stick abuts a piston slidably supported in the container in communication with atmospheric pressure through the open lower end of the container. When the screw cap closure is screwed off, the seal causes a vacuum to be generated in the interior of the screw cap, whereby the dispensing stick is pulled or pushed out of the container due to the atmospheric pressure acting on the piston. Prior to each use, the dispensing or product stick is thus pulled out of the container by a predetermined amount for compensating the consumption of the product stick during each use thereof.